David Price is backing the British boxing team to deliver in Beijing. Photographer: Stu Forster/Getty Images

Of all the stories of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, few captured the attention of the British sporting public as totally as that describing the progress of the 17-year-old youngster from Bolton, Amir Khan. Virtually unknown to most beyond boxing's cognescenti before the Games began, he became a household name as he boxed his way to a silver medal in the lightweight division, beaten only in the final by the Cuban great Mario Kindelan.

Four years earlier, Audley Harrison had taken super-heavyweight gold - Britain's first Olympic boxing gold since Chris Finnegan triumphed way back in 1968 - but it was Khan's mesmerising run of wins, when he repeatedly seemed to confound the odds against more worldly wise opponents, that truly began a resurgence of interest in amateur boxing in Britain. That, and a heap of money.

In Athens, Khan was our sole representative. But when competition begins in Beijing on Saturday, seven boxers will be fighting in a Great Britain vest making them, in the words of chief coach Terry Edwards, "the most talented group of fighters to have ever represented Britain at one Olympic Games." They were eight until Frankie Gavin's withdrawal yesterday, but this team is still sufficiently strong to make a big impact in Beijing.

UK Sport now contributes lottery funding of £1.5m per year to 30 elite amateur boxers. This comprises 16 in a so-called 'Podium Group' from which the medals supposedly come, and 14 youngsters from a 'Development Group' whose potential has been identified for championships beyond Beijing.

Add to that around £560,000 per year of Government money coming into boxing through Sport England (a figure that stood at just £42,000 before a re-think two years ago), and the state-of-the-art facilities on tap for elite athlete preparation at Sport England's Don Valley complex in Sheffield, and it is quickly clear that boxing has come a long way in a short time.

From being a somewhat forgotten sport, underfunded and more than a little politically incorrect in the eyes of a generation who would once have frowned on competitive school sport, let alone physical combat, boxing is suddenly sexy. Now there is a genuine belief among those close to the British team that UK Sport's two-medal benchmark for Beijing, laid down as an acceptable return for their funding, could be surpassed.

According to the Amateur Boxing Association of England's chief executive Paul King, that change in public perception of amateur boxing and the huge increase in the numbers now participating in boxing in gyms and clubs across the country is partly due to what might be described as the Amir Khan factor, but also in no small part to the support given by the former sports minister Richard Caborn during his term of office.

"The money we have received in the last couple of years goes to the elite athletes in the form of an untaxed sum of between £18,000 and £25,000 to each of them," King points out. "They then have their accommodation taken care of, travel, coaching, conditioning, nutrition, strength training, technical analysis ... the list goes on. Effectively, these boxers are on at least £60,000 per year, they have a pride in fighting for their country and the money has slowed the haemhorrhage of talent to the professional sport.

"Richard Caborn realised that many sports at which we traditionally excel in the Olympics tend to be for those from what you might describe as privileged backgrounds, whereas boxing is something that reaches kids in the inner cities, and kids from all ethnicities and all backgrounds. His support for what we were trying to do should not be underestimated.

"Things are looking good for Beijing. Hopefully we will have medals to celebrate at the end of the Games. But the situation looks even brighter for London in 2012. There are so many talented youngsters coming through that Great Britain could rank among the world powers of the sport. I believe by London 2012 we will be in the top four in the world."

Since standing down from ministerial responsibility, Caborn has been named as the president of the English ABA and underlines the key role boxing can play within our inner-cities, saying: "Really there are very few sports that reach into the inner cities. Obviously football is one, basketball to an extent, and certainly boxing. Boxing has become of the great sporting success stories of this country, and is flourishing in a way that has not been seen for many, many years. Paul King has done a fantastic job building it up because nobody would have believed four or five years ago where we are today.

"All over the country, clubs are saying they are getting more young boxers than ever coming through their doors, and recently it was announced that boxing is being introduced into schools as a GCSE subject. Youngsters are realising there is an alternative to the gangs, to knives and drugs, and boxing is having a really positive impact in helping us address problems in our cities."

So now it is down the British team to deliver the results to justify the hype that has been whipped up over their prospects. Perhaps Frankie Gavin, world championship lightweight gold medallist in Chicago last year, was the brightest prospect, but others are waiting to seize opportunities. Not least the team captain David Price, a 6ft 9in Liverpudlian super-heavyweight who seems to have a good chance of returning from Beijing with a medal.

At the world championships, injury ended Price's prospects when he seemed well set for a medal after coming through the preliminary rounds impressively. Quietly confident, he is a mature thinker who seems the ideal pick to inspire his younger and, probably, more impetuous and head-strong team-mates.

"I am excited about being given this responsibility, and about our prospects of success," Price said. "I have been around a few years now, so I have been able to see the transformation in the sport that has been shown in the results we have all achieved at various tournaments around the world.

"It must have been tough for Amir four years ago, when he had to do it all on his own. This time we are a group that gets on well and we will be offering our support to each other. I'm 25, the old man of the team, and it's up to me to set an example. I plan to do that in the ring and give the leadership to the younger ones who need it. There will be temptations, but we all know what it takes.

"This is the Olympics, the greatest tournament of all, and I will be doing everything I can to make sure everybody here performs at their best. As for me, it didn't work out in Chicago. Now I'm here to win."

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About this article

Beijing Olympics 2008: John Rawling on the Great Britain boxing team

This article was published on
the Guardian website
at 07.31 EDT on Friday 8 August 2008.
It was last modified at 12.06 EDT on Tuesday 19 August 2014.
It was first published at 07.42 EDT on Friday 8 August 2008.